ERIC Number: EJ919045
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Mar
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-127X
EISSN: N/A
Transforming Teacher Education through Clinical Practice: A National Strategy to Prepare Effective Teachers
Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v76 n7 p9-13 Mar 2011
The education of teachers in the United States needs to be turned upside down. Teacher education must shift away from emphasizing academic preparation and course work loosely linked to school-based experiences to programs fully grounded in clinical practice and interwoven with academic content and professional courses. This clinically based approach will create varied and extensive opportunities for candidates to connect what they learn with the challenge of using it, while under the expert tutelage of skilled clinical educators. Creating a system built around programs centered on clinical practice also holds promise for advancing shared responsibility for teacher preparation; supporting the development of complex teaching skills; and ensuring that all teachers know how to work closely with colleagues, students, and community. The vision for transforming the education of the nation's teacher workforce comes from a group representing a broad range of perspectives. The NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning is comprised of state officials, P-12 and higher education leaders, teachers, teacher educators, union representatives, and critics of teacher education. The group has identified 10 design principles for clinically based programs and a series of strategies to revolutionize teacher education. This report recommends sweeping changes in how educators deliver, monitor, evaluate, oversee, and staff clinically based preparation. It urges teacher education programs to transform preparation of all teachers, regardless of where they teach, but also notes the urgent need to address the challenges facing high-need and low-performing schools.
Descriptors: Teacher Education, Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Education Programs, Experiential Learning, Theory Practice Relationship, Systems Approach, Partnerships in Education, School Districts, Teacher Educators, Teaching Methods, Accountability, Educational Change, Medical Education, Models
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A